Groningen
last week, an earth tremor registering 3.0 on the Richter scale hit the
village of Garrelsweer, rocking a dyke and causing damage to houses.
It is the latest in a long line of earthquakes that regularly hit those
living amid the Groningen natural gas fields, the largest in Europe.
While the fields have been exploited for almost 50 years, earthquakes
are now becoming more frequent, now averaging one a week compared to
fewer than 20 a year before 2011.
- See more at:
http://www.iamexpat.nl/read-and-discuss/expat-page/news/natural-gas-extraction-doubling-number-of-earthquakes-groningen#sthash.FeB3yzGO.dpuf

“People are mentally stressed by anxiousness about what is coming in the next years.”

"The house shook enormously; it was scary"

"The risk of greater tremors affects the whole region. Banks
don’t want to invest anymore, and you cannot sell a house here.”

“We feel taken hostage. A hostage in your own home.”

"The government is meant to protect its citizens. We don't feel protected."

"It comes rumbling towards you, louder and louder and louder. Everything starts to shake. It ends with a bang, like a massive weight
dropped on the house. Boof! And that is frightening, really really
frightening."

"We sleep underneath a beam. At night I think, what if there was another
earthquake and that beam was to come down on top of us? I hope I will
live to tell about it."

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